Couple stuck in Amazon jungle phone family in Sussex to launch rescue bid

Wednesday 21 September 2011 14:04 BST

Adventurers: Bruce Scott and Lesley Norris as they appear on their blog

A couple from London spent a night trapped in a remote ravine in the Amazon jungle - and had to call relatives in England to be rescued.

Lesley Norris and Bruce Scott, who have been travelling south America in a motor home for four and a half years, became stranded when a bridge they were on collapsed 200 miles south-west of the city of Manaus, in Brazil - popular with tourists because of its proximity to the jungle.

Trapped inside their van, Mrs Norris, a former BA stewardess, called her brother-in-law in Eastbourne, East Sussex, for help, passing on the exact GPS co-ordinates of their location. He then rang Dover Coastguard who rang Falmouth Coastguard, which is the international liaison station.

James Instance, station manager at Falmouth Coastguard, said the couple were shaken but not hurt following the accident last night.

Mr Instance said: "I spoke to them today and they are still there and have not yet been rescued, but they are not hurt and a team is on the way. It is such a remote area they have not seen another vehicle for two days." A Brazilian coastguard team is on its way to the area with a helicopter. Fred Caygill, from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: "It's not the first time we've assisted people across the world.

"This is a bit unusual for us as it's not of a maritime nature, but there are no boundaries in search and rescue."

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been informed.

Mrs Norris worked for British Airways for more than 20 years, while Mr Scott trained as a professional photographer. They embarked on the trip after selling their studio flat in West Kensington and investing in a Unimog campervan, and have kept a detailed blog of their adventures.

On the couples' blog treadtheworld.com they wrote: "After working in London for the past twenty years as a photographer both for Wincanton Group and then freelancing [Bruce] decided to take a risk, sold his studio flat in West Kensington and invested in the Unimog (Bruce is the one in the silly colonial hat). London Transport-trained on the Routemaster double decker, his driving skills are well up to the mark. But will he let Lesley take the helm of his beloved vehicle?"